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Space Marines

Imperial Space Marines are the most powerful and dreaded of all the human warriors in Warhammer 40,000. They are not human at all but superhuman, having being made superior, in all respects, to a normal man by a harsh regime of genetic modification, psycho-conditioning and rigorous training. Their unswerving loyalty is to the Emperor of Mankind and no other.

Since the ancient times of the Great Crusade, the Ultramarines have fought at the forefront of the Emperor's armies. Highly disciplined and courageous warriors, the Ultramarines have remained true to the teachings of the holy Codex Astartes - the greatest work of their Primarch, Roboute Guilliman - for 10,000 years. Tales of their victories are told from their home world, Macragge, to the sacred halls of Terra. Whenever the enemies of Mankind threaten the Imperium, the Ultramarines stand ready to fight them.

The origins of the Red Scorpions are a complete mystery. No records remain of the Chapter's founding, or from which Primogenitor Chapter their geneseed was first taken. This mystery has led to some distrust amongst the Imperium's hierarchy. who feel that a Chapter with a questionable history may have questionable loyalty. In five thousand years of service the Chapter have disproved this, fighting in the defence of the Imperium with steadfast loyalty to their Emperor.

Skilled infiltrators and masters of reconnaissance, the Raven Guard Legion was the hidden hand of the Emperor from even before the time of the Great Crusade, hunting down any who would not bend the knee to the Imperial truth. Striking from the shadows, the XIXth Legion is ever prepared for enacting rapid, overwhelming assaults from unexpected quarters against the enemies of Mankind.

Ancient relics of the Chapter’s arsenal, each Dreadnought sarcophagus contains the horrifically damaged form of a mighty hero. Too severely wounded for the Apothecarion to heal, yet too valuable to the Chapter to be granted the Emperor’s Peace, the ragged forms of these warriors will be encased within the life-support systems of a Dreadnought to live forever encased in ceramite and armaplas; an eternal icon of the Chapter.

The strength of the Adeptus Astartes lies in attack, swift and decisive. Space Marine deployments will often be made directly from orbit, preceded by devastating barrages of shot and shell from modified drop pods. Alternatively, Thunderhawk gunships are employed to rapidly carry Space Marines from objective to objective, supplementing the formidable skills of the Angels of Death with devastating firepower and impressively durable armour.

Space Marine vehicles are built with the most advanced systems produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus – each Chapter maintains its own Forges and Manufactoria, and the Master of the Forge and his cadre of Techmarines will oversee and individually bless every component of these most sacred devices. Chief among the systems in each vehicle is the Machine Spirit – a complex cogitator system that aids the Space Marine crew and can even control the vehicle to a limited degree.

The modus operandi of the Chapters Astartes does not always lend itself to defence, yet a Space Marine force will still maintain a variety of support units. The more destructive of these include the might of Deathstorm Drop Pods, which fall minutes in advance of an assaulting force to purge a drop zone of immediate threats, while others are designed to fulfil roles that the skills of a full Battle-Brother would be wasted upon - such automated weapons systems are as tireless as the Astartes themselves.

The warriors of the Astartes are proud and noble fighters, and many Chapters regard camouflage as cowardly at best. As such, individual Space Marines will proudly display the colours of their chapter along with personal litanies and battle honours, and the same is true for their vehicles. An individual Rhino or Land Raider may be many centuries old, lovingly maintained by the Techmarine Suprema and his acolytes, and will bear its own honourable history.

In a Chapter of but a thousand warriors, each Battle-Brother is worth many times his own number. Wargear will be maintained for centuries, reverently passed down from fallen hero to young neophyte as relics. Even the plainest and most functional bolter will still be blessed and maintained, as such mighty tools of destruction reward their users’ devotion with performance in battle; every suit of power armour is unique, bearing a long history of heroism in the name of the Emperor and Mankind.

Each Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes has its own heraldry and proud history, most often displayed brazenly upon their power armour and the mighty hulls of the armoured vehicles deployed into battle. Each of these A4 (11.5” by 8”) sheets is packed with hundreds of individual Chapter icons, blazons and squad designations for use on both vehicles and infantry models. When applying transfers, first prepare the surface with a thin coat of gloss varnish and once applied, paint a thin coat of matte varnish onto the decal and surface alike.